New Janesville Police officer Carmen Roche talks with field training officer Steve Knox and officer Nicholas Drout, right, after a fire in a restroom at Bond Park on Sept. 4.

The Gazette publishes a lot of news in a week. Combine that with all the distractions a weekend brings, and that means there's a good chance you might have missed some important stories. Here's a summary of some of The Gazette's best content from the last week or so:

NEWS

In 2010, all but one of the department's sworn officers were white. Since then, the department has hired two Latino officers. But the department hasn't accomplished one of Chief Dave Moore's goals: Swearing in the city's first black officer.

Janesville City Council members must decide whether to sink thousands of dollars into the historic Oakhill Cemetery chapel, which has no immediate use. City staff recommends the chapel be demolished. The council will consider the recommendation at its Monday meeting.

Janesville saw more than double its average rainfall level in June, but since then has been well below average. With just 1.8 inches of rain in July and 1.4 in August the area is seeing less precipitation than in those two months of the 2012 drought.

When police spend time poring over reports to black out details, they're doing nothing to ensure public safety, The Gazette Editorial Board writes. Instead, they're smothering the public's right to know who got arrested, when and for what—and more.

Democratic Sen. Tim Cullen of Janesville announced Thursday that he won't seek re-election in 2014, citing "the ugly political environment." In the wake of that declaration, columnist Steven Walters takes a look at the state of Wisconsin's government.

Most members of the Mill Road Band have stories of how they once enjoyed music, lost it and rediscovered life's soundtrack with white hair. The band shows it is never too late to embrace life's soundtrack, Gazette columnist Anna Marie Lux writes.

With more than 21 million quilters in the United States, quilting is seeing a resurgence across the country. Gazette Photo Editor Bill Olmsted recently visited Cargill United Methodist Church in Janesville to document one such group.

Newspaper workers use the term "stand-alone photos" to describe photographs that aren't necessarily associated with any stories. These photos document candid slices of life from the community that might otherwise go unrecorded. Check out this gallery to see The Gazette's stand-alone photos for August 2013.